Microsoft's most recent Patch Tuesday brought some unwelcome news when security researchers quickly found a practical way to exploit a zero-day flaw in the Internet Explorer browser. Now, Microsoft says it has a temporary workaround, and that a permanent patch will be forthcoming.

With the publication of an exploit that takes advantage of a newly found Internet Explorer (IE) zero-day flaw, Microsoft's security mavens say they are working on a patch.

In the meantime, they have created an automated Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) "Fix It" script that can reconfigure some users' systems to avoid the vulnerability. Along with other workarounds offered by the company, the move could help protect many customers -- but not all who are currently at risk.